The Lab, which was presented by the Verge and Hewlett-Packard, was the focal point of the festival. Designed and curated by Meta.is, the structure housed seven interactive digital art exhibits.
At night, the structure's facade, which was produced by VolvoxLabs, lit up with colorful, projection-mapped ultra-high-definition videos of designs that continuously changed.
Inside the 70-foot dome was a 360-degree virtual reality theater that held as many as 400 people. The experience was visually produced by Invisible Light Network and Dirt Empire, and Antfood provided sound effects.
Brooklyn-based artist Zach Lieberman's Reflection Study exhibit allowed guests to create different formations projected onto a wall by moving shapes made out of plexiglass over a light box.
Giant Gestures, an exhibit from Brooklyn art duo Mountain Gods, offered festivalgoers a chance to play around with an oversize touch screen tablet by using giant foam hand props. The installation was meant to reinterpret how humans interact with technology.
A popular exhibit inside the Lab was the Infinite Wall created by Brooklyn-based artist Gabriel Pulecio. The interactive tunnel—created with mirrors, sounds, and lights—used motion sensors that responded to the guests who stepped inside.
Attendees could physically interact with Hyper Thread, a silk tent that featured seven silk hammocks. Created by Dave Rife and Gabe Liberti, the exhibit enabled festivalgoers to make new sounds by moving around in the hammocks.
Sponsor HP showcased an attendee-powered color wall inside the Lab. Using the brand's technology, the wall would change colors in time for a selfie taken with a laptop. The activation was produced by Infinity Marketing Team.
HP also showed off its technology in a separate lounge. The activation gave guests the chance to create custom temporary tattoos using Sprout by HP technology.
A collaboration between 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, Mevent, and AST Studios, the subway-train projection paid homage to graffiti art's New York origins. Artists spray-painted graffiti on a green screen, which was translated onto the high-definition video wall.
The visually striking, LED-powered multimedia block featured changing videos of animated designs, music videos, and performances, based on fan interaction and festival sets. The structure featured Google Play's social media handle and hashtag.
The interior of the block featured a headphone jack wall. Attendees could plug headphones into the various jacks to listen to different songs from Google Play Music playlists, including one curated for the festival. If listeners hit a "winning" jack, they were taken up to the second-story roof to enjoy the festival view.
The block also featured live graffiti demonstrations.
American Express' two-story tent, built and designed by Momentum Worldwide, offered a mix of low-tech and high-tech experiences, including a 360-degree panoramic digital photo booth. The roof deck was open to card members and offered a view of the main stage, DJ sets, and custom cocktails.
A popular low-tech experience for festivalgoers was a customizable sunglasses station, located on the first and second floors.
Macy's partnered with LeadDog Marketing Group to produce the Macy's Oasis, which gave festivalgoers a chance to relax with lounge furniture and a charging station. Along with bandanas soaked in ice water, the lounge had a string art wall created by attendees.
The official beauty sponsor of the festival, Sephora partnered with Revolution Marketing to host a tent that gave festivalgoers a chance to test out a variety of products, including face masks and lip balms. Along with a beauty bar, braid bar, and dry shampoo styling station, the tent had a photo booth with makeup props and a makeup palette backdrop.
Antioxidant infusion beverage brand Bai partnered with Relevant to produce the the lounge, which offered drinks and cocktails, a phone-charging station, and a photo station featuring a LightBright wall created with Bai bottles. Bai also had a custom Snapchat geofilter for the festival.
The Television Academy's Governors Ball Committee and Sequoia Productions chose a “Nature's Elegance” theme for the two Creative Arts Balls as well as the Governors Ball at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It was the 19th year Cheryl Cecchetto and the Sequoia team have worked the events, and the first year two events expanded to three nights.
For guests at the nature-inspired dinners, official spirits sponsor World Class poured Ketel One Vodka, and the Hilhaven Lodge Blended Straight American Whiskey cocktails, Sterling Vineyards provided the wines, and sponsor Fiji Water the water.
Patina's meal included a first course of heirloom beets, a meaty entree of “Turf & Turf,” and a flourless chocolate cake for dessert. Patina partnered with local Babé Farms for the ingredients. The catering company worked with 750 cooks in the kitchen and 1,800 servers to present its menu.
Resource One provided specialty linens at tabletops where Patina served the three-course meal. Additional decor elements included starry drape and 2,700 yards of fabric covering the ceiling beams, plus 1,000 yards of black fabric covering the truss structure. Fabrics were done in neutral, earth-inspired tones, and sequin mesh, metallic silks, and floral sequin organzas added an element of glamour.
LA Premier's Kevin Lee created the floral look for this year's more rustic vibe. Centerpieces alternated between low birch-wrapped looks and towering, colorful designs rising more than three feet tall off tabletops in trumpet-style vases. Designer8 supplied the event's lounge furniture, and Bill Ferrell Company and Sosa Sisters the scenic fabrication.
This year's more rustic, organic look included more than 50,000 hydrangeas, 80,000 roses, and 20,000 succulents. Classic Party Rentals provided the guest and catering rentals, and ShowPro brought in the lighting equipment for design by Matt Levesque of First Circle Design. Goodman Audio handled the sound, Irma Hardjakusumah the technical design, and Matt Ringer the technical direction.
Following the Emmys, HBO hosted its annual bash at the Pacific Design Center’s fountain plaza. Working with HBO’s Cindy Tenner, longtime collaborator Billy Butchkavitz again designed the event. (It was Butchkavitz’s 18th consecutive HBO Emmy party.) The theme for this year’s production-heavy party was water, with a color palette done in seven shades of blue.
A 105-foot-long water lounge flowed from the dining pavilion to the formal entrance of the event space. Photographer Gabor Ekecs created a dramatic photo collage to serve as a backdrop for the 150-foot-long HBO press line. A 24-foot-high by 16-foot-diameter cascading fountain sculpture was the centerpiece of the party, centrally displayed within the 120- by 100-foot dining pavilion. Rippling water-patterned custom carpet covered the 50,000 square feet of party space. Twenty-five-foot-high perimeter walls enclosed and defined the event space, and were decorated with flowing draperies of two-tone metallic jacquard and blue metallic columns.
A stylized band entertained guests, and a DJ and percussion ensemble kept guests dancing atop a two-tiered, circular blue dance floor.
Centerpieces were hand-blown glass pedestal bowls with floating dinnerplate dahlias, creating the look of a tabletop water garden. Wolfgang Puck catered.
Entertainment Weekly hosted its annual pre-Emmy party on September 16 at Nightingale Plaza; the venue is the new lounge from SBE formerly known as Greystone Manor, and the event was the first one held in the space.
Producer and designer Event Eleven did the arrivals build out in the adjacent parking lot. The company also brought in florals and additional decor, and built custom areas for sponsor L’Oreal Paris.
Event Eleven used stacked vintage television sets as the backdrop for a slow-motion video booth.
L'Oreal products filled illuminated tables for a graphic look.
BuzzFeed hosted its pre-Emmy party to dole out "Buzzies" entertainment awards on September 14 at Hyde, with production by Pen & Public. A three-dimensional step-and-repeat wall popped in black, yellow, and red.
A chandelier carried BuzzFeed's logo and branding into the party space.
Guests walked under a branded balloon arch instillation to enter the venue.
A display inside the party space showed off the seven awards of the evening: OMG, Win, Cute, WTF, LOL, Geeky, and Yaasss. Video screens played a loop of the winning shows.
Audi’s annual pre-Emmy celebration took over West Hollywood venue Catch on September 15; it was the venue’s first major event in Los Angeles. Event Eleven produced the chic bash.
The recognizable Audi logo shone on the nearby Pacific Design Center building for a dramatic effect. Felix handled the event's lighting.
LED tubes created the look of bold horizontal stripes on an arrivals carpet with a three-dimensional logo wall.
Vanity Fair, YouTube, and Shiseido hosted a cocktail party to celebrate the kickoff of Emmy weekend and the Vanity Fair Social Club at Platform in Culver City. Guests sipped cocktails created by Santa Margherita Wines, experienced YouTube’s 360-degree photo booth, and took away gift bags from Shiseido.
The 10-camera Array from StudioBooth captures one moment from multiple angles to create dynamic 3-D gifs. It’s easy to set up and fits in a 10- by 10-foot space. The gifs can be shared immediately on social networks and via email.
Kiehl’s teamed up with Brooklyn-based artist, product designer, and animator Jeremyville for its new holiday gift sets ($30). The festive packages feature classic products from the beauty brand, including cleanser, facial cream, hand salve, and lip balm. Kiehl’s can also create custom gift sets with mix-and-match items (with a minimum of two and a maximum of five products).
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey-based entertainment provider Bounce Music and Entertainment recently debuted “The Coolest Most Amazing New York Candy Table in the Whole Word!” The custom New York City-theme tablescape features eight branding opportunities on the subway tiles, in addition to interactive branding or animation on the screens in mini Times Square. An attendant is also available to hand out customized candy bags to guests.
Inspired by the fashion magazine’s futuristic light tunnel-style photo booth at the Met Gala, which was held in May in New York, Coco Events allows guests to strike a pose and rock out to music during their photo session. The booth is approximately 8 feet deep and 6 feet wide, and rents for as many as five hours for $2,500. Guests receive a print and video via email.
Using a special polish and printing process, Nail Printing Events creates custom nail art, including emojis, logos, and even selfies. The designs are printed directly onto guests’ nails and can be removed with nail polish remover.
Franco Vitella Catered Affairs served up “dragon’s breath” popcorn made with liquid nitrogen. Flavored popcorn is tossed with and frozen by liquid nitrogen and then when the ice-cold popcorn is warmed up (thanks to body heat), clouds of cold air are released through guests’ mouth and nose.
This multi-camera photo experience from Pixperience surrounds guests, taking photos from 360-degree angles simultaneously and stitching them together to make the moment appear to rotate in space. Guests can share the image on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The setup can also be fully customized to match an event’s branding and theme.
Selffee’s technology uses edible food coloring to print directly onto coffee, cold drinks, cupcakes, cookies, and more. After guests take a selfie, their high-quality image is printed on the treat and is available to eat almost immediately. Selffee is available in the New York City area for social or corporate events.
Mixologist Jason Kindness offers boozy teambuilding activities such as Mixology 101, in which teams create an original cocktail in 10 minutes and then present it to judges. In addition, his Newport, Rhode Island-based company also provides cocktail-making lessons for groups, as well as serving private events. Plus, the Kind Spirits offers cocktail consulting services to venues.
In addition to professional bartending services, New York-based cocktail caterer Bar Club also provides a handcrafted mobile bar that’s customizable to any space and is available for rent alone or with accompanying staff.
